THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Since the establishment of civilization, women around the world have been responsible for feeding and caring for their families by using natural resources. They use the environment to give birth, to feed, to raise and most importantly to educate, and therefore women are most affected by environmental changes. However, according to a study conducted by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), even when faced with situations such as poverty, women avoid practices that harm natural resources and the environment while fulfilling their obligation to provide food for their families (Alıca, S. 2017). Because, perhaps, with the effect of fertility and production, the woman, who is in more communication with the environment, felt more responsible and sensitive to the environment.

While women in developing countries produce 60-80% of food, they only officially own only 2% of these lands worldwide due to inheritance laws and customs, and they also face barriers to obtaining credit and insurance. Women who are responsible for the management and protection of resources for their families; they spend a lot of time transporting and storing water, securing fuel, food and feed resources, and managing land such as forests, wetlands or farmland. The lives of women and their families are severely impacted when drought, erratic rainfall or severe storms affect access to these essential resources. Research shows that natural disasters disproportionately affect women, lowering women's life expectancy and killing more women than men, especially in areas with low gender equality levels. (UN Women)

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, although climate change has different effects for regions, ages, classes, income groups, occupations and male and female gender groups, women and children are the most adversely affected groups. For example, women and girls bear the main burden of water collection in developing countries. About 2.5 billion people, two-thirds in Asia and a quarter in sub-Saharan Africa, still use unimproved sanitation facilities, and 748 million people do not have clean water. In order to reach water, women and girls travel kilometers in unsafe areas and become more vulnerable to violence, and this also causes them to have no time for education, which is their most natural right. A study of 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa shows that 71 percent of water collectors in the region are women and girls, with women spending an estimated 16 million hours in just one day fetching water, compared to 6 million for men (UN Women). ). According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2001 Report, approximately 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty are women.

On the other hand, women who provide food, fuel and shelter to their families with the available natural resources play a key role in the sustainable use of resources. As a matter of fact, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon said: “Women of the world are the key to sustainable development, peace and security”. According to the 2007 Swedish government report, women in the developed Nordic countries have a lower carbon footprint than men and make their decisions in favor of "green", whether in the household or on travel.

Since the 1990s, various platforms, targets, etc. have been developed regarding the observance and policy of the relationship between women and the environment. Although there are studies, the most exciting one was that at the Paris Conference held in 2015, countries committed to consider their obligations on gender equality, as well as their commitments to prevent climate change and reduce carbon emissions.

Slightly more than half of the world's population is made up of women, but the other half is raised, raised and educated by women. In order to achieve sustainable development, equality of opportunity should be provided in education, science and technology, there should be more environmental engineers (not environmental officers), civil engineers, architects, urban and regional planners, marine biologists and women trained in related sciences, and in official institutions and organizations, at political levels, civil society organizations should take part in the decision-making point.

Apart from working professionally in environmental fields, women have many duties. The first of these is to prevent waste and to be a conscious consumer, and to raise our children in this way. In particular, it is very important to adopt approaches that will not create waste, and in case of waste, to collect them separately at the point where they are formed and recycle them. Television programs and advertisements can be made, and suitable scenes can be placed in TV series and movies to make women more conscious about the environment and consumption.

In recent years, it has been on the agenda of developed countries to obtain new products from waste and to create new income models for women. It is important to train women who play an active role in agriculture, especially on organic agriculture, sustainable water and soil use, and responsible use of fertilizers and pesticides. Again, incentive mechanisms have been developed for women who make renewable energy investments in developed countries, and it is important to adopt such approaches in our country.

Within the framework of these approaches, it is also important for the future of our world that women are aware of the role they play in terms of the sustainability of our world and seek equality, be aware of their rights and work harder to come to the decision-makers in environmental policies.

The duty of men is only to stop being an obstacle in front of women, because women don't need anything else!

Happy 8 March International Women's Day to all our working women!

Yağmur CENGİZ EROĞLU

Environment and Sustainability Specialist